| “Remember the Time” | ||||
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| Single by Michael Jackson | ||||
| from the album Dangerous | ||||
| Released | January 14, 1992 | |||
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| Length | 4:00 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
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| Michael Jackson singles chronology | ||||
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“Remember the Time” is a 1992 single by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on January 14, 1992, as the second single from Jackson’s eighth studio album, Dangerous. The song was written and composed by Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson and Bernard Belle, and produced by Riley and Jackson. “Remember the Time” was a successful attempt by Jackson to create a dance-oriented, new jack swing-flavored jam with the assistance of co-producer Riley. The lyrics are about remembering having fallen in love with someone.
“Remember the Time” was generally well received by contemporary critics. The song was commercially successful, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Internationally, the song was a top ten hit in nine countries, peaking at number one in New Zealand, at two in Spain and three in the United Kingdom. The song reached the top ten in all major territories. A nine-minute music video directed by John Singleton, marketed as a “short film“, was released for the song. The video is set in ancient Egypt and features appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, Tommy “Tiny” Lister and Magic Johnson.
“Remember the Time” was written by Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson and Bernard Belle, and was produced by Riley and Jackson. It was recorded at Record One Studios. It was released as the second single from Michael Jackson‘s eighth studio album, Dangerous, on January 14, 1992. “Remember the Time” is three minutes fifty nine seconds long. The song’s music was compared to Jackson’s 1979 single, “Rock with You” from his Off the Wall album.
Co-writer Teddy Riley stated in a 1996 Los Angeles Times interview that he was inspired to write the song after hearing Jackson describe how he had fallen in love with his then-wife, Debbie Rowe. However, in a 2011 reply to a fan on Twitter, Riley denied that the song was about Rowe. Others have noted that when the single was originally released in 1992, Jackson dedicated the song to Diana Ross, including Jermaine Jackson, who in his book You Are Not Alone: Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes wrote, “…that song was, as Michael told me, written with Diana Ross in mind; the one great love that, as far as he was concerned, escaped him.”
As part of promotion for “Remember the Time”, a music video, which was filmed in mid-January 1992, was released. Prior to the release of the video, Jackson’s record label promoted it by releasing clips, as well as releasing behind the scenes clips of making the video. The nine-minute video was promoted as a “short film”. It premiered on MTV, Fox and Black Entertainment Television on February 2, 1992. After the video premiered on MTV, the channel aired a “rockumentary” called “More Dangerous Than Ever” which included glimpses of the making of the video. Jackson’s record label would not release the video’s budget figures. Directed by John Singleton and choreographed by Fatima Robinson, the video was an elaborate production and became one of Jackson’s longest videos at over nine minutes. It was set in ancient Egypt and featured groundbreaking visual effects and appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, The Pharcyde, Magic Johnson, Tom “Tiny” Lister, Jr. and Wylie Draper, who portrayed Jackson as an adult in the made-for-TV movie The Jacksons: An American Dream and died shortly after appearing in this video. The video also featured Michael’s first on-screen kiss.
Jackson appears in the video as a hooded wizard who enters an Egyptian palace and attempts to entertain the Pharaoh‘s bored Queen. Two other entertainers have failed, and she has sent them to be executed. The Queen sees that this wizard is different — instead of juggling or eating fire, he walks up the steps to her throne and sings to her, asking her if she “remembers the time” they were together. The Pharaoh (played by Murphy) hardly appreciates this move and summons his guards. Jackson runs away to another room and begins elaborate, Egyptian-style choreography with the Pharaoh’s servants. When the guards find him, Jackson turns into golden sand. In the video, Jackson was dressed in a costume made of gold satin. He wore golden chain mail, a white skirt with a phallic dangling sash, black pants and black boots. This video features a physically complicated dance routine that became the centerpiece of other videos from the Dangerous album.
The music video was generally well received by music critics. Ira Robbins of Entertainment Weekly described the “Remember the Time” video as being a “gorgeous ancient Egyptian extravaganza”. The music video appeared on the video albums: Dangerous – The Short Films, Video Greatest Hits – HIStory and Michael Jackson’s Vision. The music video, along with other videos from Dangerous, was frequently shown on MTV.
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